“With highlighting local candidates out in the states, you avoid the bad optics of the DNC Chairman being boo’ed in swing-state Nevada.”

The only way to avoid that is not to send Perez out in public at all or, better yet, just have him tender his resignation. That’s a self-inflicted wound; the Clintonites recruited Perez late in the game and for no other reason than to prevent a Sanders-backed candidate from taking the chairmanship. Perez had no other platform and to make him the man, the Clintonites dumped a lot of ugly oppo research on Ellison in the press. Perez could take some steps to make things right but he won’t and in absence of that, he’ll be booed for as long as he holds the job and deserves no better. You’re correct about how that looks but it is what it is. The Clintonites, after bringing the party to the virtual ruin you’ve described, made sure to keep themselves in their cushy leadership positions. In the last few weeks, we’ve seen another flare-up of anti-Berniecrat garbage, elements of the corrupt Establishment using weaponized faux-“identity politics” — such a soft euphemism for plain old fashioned race-baiting and sexist-baiting — to try to crush the progressive base of the party. At the moment, though, most of the party Establishment is going a different route, trying to cynically coopt the popularity of Sanders. That’s what that “unity” tour was all about.

Speaking of that, Sanders is the most popular politician in the U.S. and his numbers keep going up. While getting almost no press for the effort, he’s been pushing ahead with an ambitious progressive agenda, gaining many allies in the Senate. This will be the Democratic agenda of the future. If the party has any future.

The usual correction: Heath Mello never sponsored or supported any “forced ultrasound” bill. He crafted a bill that made doctors offer women seeking an abortion the option of having one as an alternative to a forced ultrasound bill.